Eden's Blood
by Jolivhanna
Summary: When Lara Croft is called to retrieve the Heart of Eden from the island of Chios, Greece, she is convinced that it will be just another great artefact to add to her collection - but she soon discovers that the Heart is much more sinister than it appears.
1. Chapter 1: An Unexpected Call

**EDEN'S BLOOD**

**BY**

**J. O. HANNA**

**Disclaimer****: Lara Croft and Tomb Raider are owned by Eidos Interactive and Crystal Dynamics and not by me, and I am not profiting from writing this. The character Eric Falshingham is copyright of Andrew Mason a.k.a. Dr. Amazing, from whom I acquired permission to borrow for this story. All other characters are owned by me.**

**Chapter One**

"You are lighter than the air that engulfs you. You are one with it; it is one with you. Let the forces that surround you bring you upwards."

Lara Croft's eyes were squinted in deep concentration as she focused the entirety of her attention on these words, spoken steadily to her from nearby.

"You no longer need the ground to stay upright. You are weightless."

"Weightless," Lara murmured, echoing the word in an effort to achieve her current goal.

Eric Falshingham beamed with pride, amazed at his student's progress. He had known this young woman for a long time, and ever since she had agreed to let him teach her the arcane arts, he had long been prepared to teach her everything he knew on the subject. Which, for Falshingham, meant that a lot of work had to fit into their weekly sessions – and right from the start, he held no doubt that Lara of all people would be able to handle such a workload.

She was, after all, the Tomb Raider. A globally acclaimed archaeologist and adventurer, alluringly beautiful and highly dangerous in her own right, Falshingham considered himself nothing short of the luckiest teacher on Earth to have such a person volunteer to learn from him his own specialty – the occult arts.

For years Falshingham had been an enthusiast in this particular area, and over time, had become a highly sought-after source of expertise in such matters. He had always hoped for somebody to pass on the vast knowledge he had gained over time and throughout the many times Lara Croft had consulted him on matters of the arcane, he knew he had finally found an ideal student in her.

Today was Lara's first lesson in the art of levitation, a skill that Falshingham had emphasised to be of great usefulness in just about any situation she may find herself in on an archaeological mission. Already she had succeeded in suspending herself a number of feet in mid-air, having taken naturally to the art within only hours. Every week the lessons had been held here in the "downstairs office" underneath the main stairway of Falshingham's luxurious mansion, but this "office" was more like a dungeon, with stone stairs and walls, and grim shackles and torture devices acting as decor rather than framed art or ornaments – to "set the mood" as Falshingham had once put to Lara. This was where Falshingham had always engaged in his arcane interests, and it had since developed a new purpose – as a place in which to train his student.

"That's it, Lara. Maintain your focus now - you've risen an entire two metres."

An empowering sense of accomplishment overcame Lara's senses. Unfortunately, this feeling broke her much-needed concentration, sending her crashing down from her suspension in mid-air. She hit the hard floor with a thud and a dismayed cry, landing right in front of Falshingham's feet.

"Are you okay?" Falshingham cried, bending down to take her arm.

Lara allowed him to pull her to her feet, barely managing to stifle a groan of pain as her right side ached from the impact. "I'm fine Falshingham, but you might want to consider carpeting your dungeon floor, or at least put a mattress or something down while I'm practicing. You know, just a thought." She added in jest, trying not to grimace from the growing ache in her side.

"Harrumph!" Falshingham's trademark clear of the throat echoed all over the dimly lit room. "And you were doing so well, too. It's all about maintaining your concentration, and as you know such things take practice, as well as patience."

"The one thing I've always needed work on, I'm afraid."

Falshingham smiled. "It's good to know that the arcane arts are not the only thing you're learning from these lessons Lara. Come upstairs, I'll order some ice for you."

Falshingham led her up the stone stairs, showing amazing grace and agility for his age – he almost seemed to be dancing his way up the stairs. Once they were out, he sat Lara down on the deep, comfortable couch in the main living room. As one of his servants approached, Falshingham instructed him to retrieve a pack of ice for Lara's injury, receiving it in less than a minute.

"Two metres Lara... Not even I achieved that height on my first day practicing levitation!" Falshingham exclaimed as he gently applied the ice pack to Lara's aching side. "You're making strong progress, my dear."

Lara winced slightly as the rush of cold made contact with her skin. "Certainly hit the floor hard, though. I forgot how downright frightening sudden freefalls could be... even from only two metres."

Falshingham inspected her injury. "It's starting to bruise, but the ice should prevent the worst of it. I really should have the floor downstairs refurbished..."

"You wouldn't really want to 'ruin the ambience' of your sanctum with fluffy carpeting though, would you?"

Falshingham laughed. "On second thought, you're right – because the ambience of my sanctum is more important to me than your safety. My dear, what kind of teacher would I be if I didn't prioritise the safety of my students?"

Lara laughed in reply. "It didn't do too much harm anyway, you know I've fallen from greater heights."

After a few moments, she stood up and moved to retrieve her jacket. She had barely pulled it on when her mobile phone began to ring. Falshingham signaled for one of his servants to replace the ice as Lara answered the call. After a few moments, Lara clicked a button and put the phone back.

"It was Petrou. He has a job for me."


	2. Chapter 2: Arrival In Chios

This was one of the hardest chapters to write - I was practically tearing my hair out this whole week trying to organise it in a way that made sense. Anyway many apologies that it took so long, and many kind thanks to all who have reviewed so far!

**Chapter Two**

George Petrou, for the first time he could remember in his entire career, was lost for words.

His intrigue was written all over his face as he studied what promised to lead to one of the most significant findings in Greek archaeological history.

As a specialist in epigraphics at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Petrou had cracked the mind-numbing codes of many age-old inscriptions and had seen and gained worlds of knowledge from the ancient carvings, many of which concerned the very artefacts contained within the renowned museum.

None of these, however, could compare to what had just been brought to his attention. Once his colleague - one of the Museum's most highly regarded archaeologists - had brought to him what he had dug up in the island of Chios, Petrou had arranged to leave for the island the next day to investigate, but not before arranging a last-minute appointment with who he hoped - no,_ knew _- would agree to accompany them to the site on Chios upon hearing what he had to say about it. All he had to do was hear it from her.

He heard a knock on the door to his office, before the door opened and Lara Croft took a casual step inside. She wore a sleeveless black zip-up top and a small black skirt, and was carrying a silver handbag over her shoulder. As was fairly common for her, she did not upon first glance look like she enjoyed trekking through ancient, dangerous territory - rather, she looked ready for a friend's birthday party. However, her choice of fashion exposed her strong, athletic limbs, and her eyes, Petrou had noticed on many an occasion, had absorbed many things that humankind had never been supposed to lay eyes upon and it showed. The young eyes sparkled with wisdom from throughout entire centuries, but were also filled with secrets - deadly secrets. Perhaps this is what intrigued Petrou the most - and convinced him that she was the perfect one for the job.

He had met Lara the last time she'd been in Greece, on a personal holiday rather than a usual mission, and she had appeared to take a shine to him rather quickly - especially upon learning of his occupation. Lara herself, of course, had needed no introduction - Petrou had heard all about the Tomb Raider almost from the start of his career, and was pleased to run into someone he admired so much on an idle holiday in Santorini of all occasions. He was only several years older than her and they found that they were similar in many more ways than merely their academic interests.

Upon closing the office door behind her and laying eyes on him, Lara strolled up to his desk, smirked playfully and cocked her head to the side. "Hello there, stranger."

Petrou stood up, smiling broadly, and kissed her cheek. "It's been so long, Lara! Where have you been?"

"Where have _you_ been, I should ask? This is the first time you've contacted me about a job since promising to do so ages ago."

"And there's quite a good reason for that, as you'll soon know. How was your flight?"

"I barely remember it - slept the whole way through."

"Good to hear. You'll be bright with energy for what's ahead, in that case."

"You have something huge planned for me already?" Lara chuckled. "You're just like Falshingham..."

Petrou smiled. "Have a seat, Lara. There's much to tell and I want you to be fully aware of what will be in store for you before agreeing to it."

Lara dropped her handbag beside her and sat down in front of Petrou's desk. Petrou's smile had dissolved, and he was now all seriousness.

"I've been in regular contact with a colleague of mine named Jacob Rossides - he's one of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens's most respected archaeologists. He is on the island of Chios as we speak - and just yesterday, he sent me this."

He picked up the large photo from his desk that he had been studying before Lara arrived ,and showed it to her. It was a set of clear inscriptions made in what appeared to be brownish-coloured stone - even though they did not appear to be weathered in any way, Lara could tell they were ancient.

"Where did Rossides find this? In a ruin?"

"No - underneath a bush range not too far from a small village, a place that was always overlooked by the locals. When he sent this photo to me, he said that he was sure there was more to find in there than just the inscription. He originally meant to leave Chios today but he has extended his stay to uncover as much as possible. I am going there to assist with this investigation - and we won't be doing it alone."

She nodded slowly, frowning. "You want me to help investigate."

Lara realised she must have really looked unconvinced, for Petrou suddenly put a hand on her wrist, leaning forward in his seat staring straight into her eyes with an intense gaze.

"Lara, both Rossides and I have lived in Greece our entire lives and been in this business for fifteen years - even those who have worked in this field longer than us, they could never have hoped to make a discovery of this kind. And I want you to be a part of it."

"I'm touched. But enough build-up already, Petrou - tell me, in ten words or less, what exactly this discovery means."

"It means we have found the Heart of Eden."

The following day, Lara and Petrou sought Rossides and his team at the site described the day before by Petrou - a wide, brilliant green bush range completely surrounded by gigantic trees in all directions, which Lara felt gave it a strange atmosphere.

Before leaving Athens with Lara for the port of Chios, Petrou had explained more about the discovery. "This is what the inscription read, in its entirety: _My Eden, may your heart never stop beating_. It was in a dialect of Ancient Greek that became obsolete early on and is quite rare to find, so the simple sentence took a bit longer than usual for me to translate."

"And because of this, you're convinced that the very Heart of Eden is right where Rossides found the inscription?"

"He's found considerably more than just the inscription since yesterday, Lara. He's been at it every hour - it's a wonder he's even still awake."

As Lara and Petrou approached the site several hours later after a lengthy boat ride, they were greeted by a slightly dishevelled but very polite, handsome man carrying an excavation tool. Upon seeing Lara, he stared at her with wide, shining eyes and smiled sheepishly. "Lara Croft?"

"Jacob Rossides - a pleasure it is to meet you," Lara said with a cautious smile, offering her hand in an attempt to pass the awkward moment. As he took her hand, the sheepish look never left his face; in fact, it intensified. The flushed man looked as though about to burst with excitement, but was trying his best not to show it too much.

This was not lost on Petrou, who looked from Rossides to Lara, chuckling nervously. "Mr. Rossides has been a huge fan of yours as long as I've known him, Lara," he explained.

Rossides looked down at the floor for a moment, then seemed to regain his composure. "The site isn't far, I'll lead you there."

They began to walk towards said site, Rossides still eyeing Lara with admiration. Lara was grateful that his gaze was one of innocent idolisation rather than lust, the like of which she'd gotten too much of for toleration, but it was nonetheless disconcerting. However, Rossides soon appeared to come out of his shell and behave less awkwardly around Lara, even speaking with her more openly as they came closer to the site.

"So, Jacob," Lara began. "I know the Heart of Eden is a coveted artefact here and has been so for centuries - but what exactly makes it so special?"

"It's widely known in Greek lore that the king of all gods, Zeus, had many 'wives', most of which were just affairs and the like. But what isn't widely known is that Zeus fell in love with a mortal by the name of Eden. This was, of course, not by any means the first time he took up with a mortal - but Zeus was apparently pretty taken with her, so much so that he didn't want her to age and die like all his other mortal consorts; he wanted her to live forever. So he got his daughter Hebe - the goddess of youth, conveniently - to create something he could give Eden to keep her youth. This something was the Heart - and it's rumoured to be a ring in fact, one of the first 'wedding rings' so to speak, to have ever been exchanged. We'll know for sure soon enough."

"You can imagine Hera's wrath if she ever found out," Petrou chimed in. He was struggling with the terrain more than Lara and Rossides, having less experience in such an environment.

"So the people who covet the Heart think coming into possession of it will keep_ them_ at their prime forever?" Lara asked.

"I suspect that some of the radical ones might, but even if it's not true, it's directly connected to the king of the gods. That in itself would undoubtedly have all the archaeologists in Greece falling over themselves to uncover it."

A path had already been cut through the thick bush, which Lara presumed had been done by Rossides or one of his team. Rossides led Lara and Petrou through it and into what seemed to be a dead end. Two more Greek excavators were there, appearing to be crowding over nothing at first sight. But as Lara looked more closely, she realised that a large and deep hole had been carefully excavated through the ground, revealing a strange shape several feet underneath.

"This is the spot where you found those inscriptions?"

"Yes - they were on a stone tablet, which we removed in order to search for anything that may have been underneath."

Lara crouched down near the hole with Petrou close behind her.

Her face paled as she caught full sight of what the excavators had uncovered.


	3. Chapter 3: A Sea Of Roses

**Chapter Three**

Petrou instinctively grabbed Lara's shoulders; Rossides grimaced down at the sight as his team gazed silently down in grim awe.

There, at the bottom of the hole dug by the team, was a human skeleton. Barely intact, its sickeningly discoloured form had broken in half over time and no clothing or any other item had survived. Its arms were still in the position they were uncovered in - long and outstretched, giving it a desperate and beseeching appearance, as though it had failed in its dying action long ago.

This was far from the first time Lara had seen a skeleton; in fact, she had even seen many at a time on occasion during her many adventures infiltrating tombs. But this particular find left a feeling of dark foreboding within her that was hard to shake. She glanced over at Rossides, who shared her own grim expression.

"We're not the first ones to have discovered the inscription?" One of the Greek excavators murmured, looking up at Lara and Rossides from his crouched position over the hole.

"Perhaps - but if so, why did we find it underneath where we found the tablet?" Rossides frowned in confusion and crouched down next to him. "Because of that, you'd think the tablet was placed there after whoever this was died down there."

"There's likely something more underneath - this person may have been trying to find the Heart as well," Lara observed. Petrou still had a hold of her shoulders; he looked close to retching, despite his efforts to conceal it.

"I've seen countless of these in murals, and photographs..." he uttered quietly. "But never have I seen an actual skeleton before. Its unnerving to think it was here for such a long time without anyone ever realising. But what could be underneath?"

The two excavators were looking intently at each other, and Lara guessed they were silently debating over who would remove the skeleton from where it lay.

Rossides stood up and gave a quick command in Greek to the excavators, and then led Lara and Petrou a few feet away.

"That person may have been killed by some sort of trap," Rossides said in a subdued voice, suddenly looking suspicious.

"If this is indeed where the Heart is, I wouldn't be surprised. You'd expect something so coveted to be protected, right?" Lara mused. "Most other places where I've sought artefacts have generally had a set of traps to prevent their recovery... But the inscription that Petrou translated, it was like a love note. Many would conclude it to have been Zeus himself who made it. I just find it hard to imagine why he'd place traps where the Heart is, if he meant for Eden to find it here - unless there were others after the Heart even in that age."

Rossides glanced over at where the two excavators were struggling to remove the brittle skeleton from its sprawled position in the hole. "When Sakis and Kostas are done we'll need to proceed carefully. In this profession a skeleton is nothing new to see but I don't get a good feeling at all from this one, to be honest." Again, Rossides' eyes reflected how Lara felt.

"Rossides!" One of the excavators called. "There's something else down here, it looks like a trapdoor!" he shouted in rapid Greek, and Rossides, Petrou and Lara all hurried to see.

About a square metre in size, the trapdoor appeared largely intact despite the old tree debris and dirt that had it covered for so long. Rossides leapt down to it and removed some further debris to search for a way to open it.

"Lara, do you see the symbol engraved on the trapdoor?" Petrou asked.

"Meandros," Lara stated.

"Yes, here in Greece the meandros has long been a symbol of eternity, or eternal love, since ancient times. Interesting to find it here." He glanced over to where Sakis, the older and sturdier of Rossides' two assistants, was removing the last of the ghastly skeleton from what had long been its resting place.

Rossides, with the help of a long, curving rod-like tool, had managed to succeed in opening the trapdoor. There appeared to be nothing but darkness inside, from where Lara and Petrou were. She stepped down into the hole, and Petrou attempted to follow her but almost slipped on the unstable surface. After assisting him down to the bottom of the hole, Lara approached Rossides and the other excavator, Kostas, who were kneeling at the ledge of the opening. They were murmuring heatedly to each other in Greek and Lara knew what they were arguing about. She decided to resolve it the way she knew was best.

"I'll see if it leads anywhere, boys," she declared. "Don't worry, I always come prepared."

She reached into her bag and produced a long wound-up rope which she handed to Kostas. He unwound it before throwing the end of it to Lara. She grabbed it and hoisted herself over the ledge. Rossides gripped it nearest the ledge and prepared to lower her down.

"Be careful Lara!" Petrou cried, his voice betraying his anxiety.

"Always am, George," Lara winked at him before disappearing under the opening completely.

Gripping the rope carefully, she moved slowly down to where the darkness enveloped her on all sides, the daylight from above the trapdoor not reaching far down enough to see where she was. She reached behind her and produced a flare from her backpack - a trusty item she never chanced a mission without. Upon lighting it, she carefully eyed her surroundings - the walls on all sides appeared no wider than the trapdoor had been, but as she looked downwards she thought she could see a wider area. As Rossides lowered her another several feet down, she noticed that her surroundings were indeed different - it was much more spacious here.

Lara suddenly felt hard ground beneath her feet, the unexpected connection shocking her briefly.

"You all right Lara?" she heard Petrou call down to her from above the trapdoor opening. The sudden sound must have been audible even from above.

"All sweet!" she assured him, hearing the echo repeat and dissolve around her.

As she moved away from the rope, she scanned her new surroundings - from what the light of the flare could reveal, it appeared to be no more than an old, empty room. The walls appeared to be the same brownish stone that the inscribed tablet was constructed from. It was more difficult to breathe here, so low underneath the ground in such a stuffy atmosphere, but Lara was nevertheless intrigued. She wondered how the place could have stayed hidden for this long.

There were no items in the room, but the stone walls were inscribed with the large messages on each of them. She remembered the inscription that Petrou had shown her - these were similar messages, but larger and multiplied.

He must have been quite obsessively smitten, Lara thought wryly as she examined the walls. It reminds me of what I used to scrawl all over my notebooks about boys I liked when I was a schoolgirl... Not the easiest way to imagine the king of the gods behaving.

As she peered deeper into the darkness, a strange, overwhelming scent swept over the place - the most unlikely smell that she could ever have expected.

Rose petals.

The intoxicating scent unsettled Lara as much as it captivated her. Why would she smell fresh roses in an underground place that had long been forgotten?

As she glanced around, her lit flare still in her hand, she could not see a single rose - the same barren surrounded her, as did the messages on the walls. She searched for a hidden opening, anything that could lead her to the Heart.

Suddenly, she felt the floor beneath her start to crumble.

Before she could make a move to prevent her fall, she felt herself descending rapidly into an atmosphere different to that above; this was no longer the stuffy air she was in only moments before. She failed to keep a hold of her flare; it fell from her flailing hand and disappeared, its light once again replaced by the vaguest glimmer from the above opening, now ascending further and further upwards, increasing the pitch blackness below.

After falling what she could only estimate to be a few metres, Lara did not find herself on more hard ground - rather, a most unstable and peculiar ground met her feet as she landed, instantly beginning to sink as though trapped in quicksand.

She had fallen into a sea of rose petals - thousands upon thousands of them engulfed her as she fell deeper and deeper, the fragrant pieces threatening to suffocate her. Lara was oblivious to the absurdity of the situation - her mind was filled with an anxiety that grew with every passing second as she continued to sink further downwards. Regaining her composure and swallowing her fear, she forced herself to calm down - but she could do nothing to stop her descent.

She could distantly hear the voice of Petrou - or was it Rossides? - shouting down to her from high above, its sound muffled as she sank more rapidly in what felt like a bottomless pit of rose. She could not answer. She wondered when the fall would end - if it would end. She couldn't breathe - she was choking, drowning in the sea of rose, suffocating in a bizarre mockery of love.

After what seemed forever, the surface changed again - rose petals finally gave way to a different surface.

A harder surface - much harder. But thin, like the fragile layer of ice on a frozen lake.

The surface shattered upon impact. Lara felt sharp pain on a number of areas on her back, where she had made contact with the new surface. It felt like glass, but there was no way of knowing for sure. She fell through and realised that she was no longer buried in petals - but she was still descending.

She twisted around in an effort to gain a view of the ground. She was surrounded on all sides by falling petals, effectively blocking her view of the ground she was falling towards.

She could see nothing to grab onto, nothing she could use to save herself. It seemed as though all she could do was submit to wherever the fall would take her - whether to the Heart of Eden, or to death.

But this was not how she played. Lara Croft never left her fate to chance.

She made her own luck. And now would be no exception.

In the space of a second, Lara reached into her backpack and produced another of her trusty items she never braved a mission without; her grappling hook. An item that had saved her life on too many occasions to count.

She had not fallen too far from the hard surface she had broken through. She threw the grappling hook with all her strength, and to her immense relief, it latched onto a ledge. She felt a forceful jolt as her fall was halted.

Dangling from the hook's rope, Lara took a moment to look around her. Her eyes widened.

The sight was unfathomable. The entire area was bathed in crimson light. Lara could see no source it could have originated from; she wondered if it was all in her mind, a prospect she had long learned not to dismiss too easily.

As the remainder of the falling petals began to clear, Lara could see that the area she was in was now much more vast. The strange crimson hue covered everything she could see; the ground some thirty feet below was now covered wall to wall in red rose petals, their number adding up more and more as more of them fell from the now broken ceiling above.

But this was not what made Lara gasp in amazement. Beyond the blanket of red below, beyond the new, transparent sea of crimson, was a huge, stone figure.

With a muscular physique carved in the most precise detail, the huge figure was instantly recognisable as Zeus. The figure was bent down, its head raised, its gigantic muscular arms outstretched forwards with palms facing up in what resembled a gesture of offering.

Lara had barely registered the sight when she felt a sudden, sharp tug. As she looked up, she noticed that the part of the ledge her grappling hook had latched onto was crumbling under the weight, and would break off in only seconds.

She braced herself for the fall as the hook came loose.


End file.
